Quote: Originally Posted by Cooper S Jon (original)
all engines use oil,just at different rates because it they didn't the pistons & rings would seize in the bores..

Absolutely correct. This post will run and run. My old MCS was using about a litre per 800 to 1000 miles. My Renault Kangoo van uses no oil per 12,000 miles. I drive 16k-18k per year as a service engineer. If I were to use my Mini for work, I would be using up to 18 litres of oil a year. No chance of the pistons seizing my bores then....

The mini's tend to use oil more or less depending on what mods you have and if you have a friday engine or not.
most of the oil loss is to do with the pressurised crank case vent system installed for better emissions .
in basic terms if you look at where you pcv breathers are connected in to the inlet track you will find they are very close to the turbo or supercharger depending on what model you have.
when your engine is running and warmed up some of the oil mist is vented out of the breathers by the pressure in the engines crank case and also at higher rpm drawn out by the turbo or supercharger like a big hover.
the faster and harder you go the more oil you use basically.

this is where problems start ie filling your intercooler up with oil because thats whats in the system next. i have seen 1/4 lts come out an intercooler where the oil has settled over time and use.
also as the oil mist gets though to the inlet track it gets burnt on to the back of the intake valves this is where you carboning up problems come in.

you change your oil for a few reasons and the oil is not just for lubrication its for cooling and cleaning.
if you have the correct amount of oil in the system when you change it, when you remove the drain plug and oil starts to drain out, it is washing out all the carbon and debris in the bottom of the sump that why a lot of people use flushing agents to help this.
you are also replacing the filter to which will filter the oil if this becomes blocked you will end up with low oil pressure.
if you are down 1 lts of oil and your engine hold 5.5lts when you put that oil in you are diluting the 1 lts with 4.5 lts which means the new oil once mixed has done the same milage as the other 4.5 lts this will efect the cleaning and lubrication properties of the new 1 lts of oil

as a note with oil in your car if is starts to change ie gets darker it has carbon in it.
carbon is abrasive and causes you engine components to ware out over time
if you dont change your oil regular you will have carbon build up in your engine then the components will start to run hotter then more carbon less cooling more carbon less cooling BANG BIG BILL

my advise change your oil and filter regular you can flush every second time depending how bad your oil is, fit a oil catch thank which will help the oil loss problem.

The mini's tend to use oil more or less depending on what mods you have and if you have a friday engine or not.
most of the oil loss is to do with the pressurised crank case vent system installed for better emissions .
in basic terms if you look at where you pcv breathers are connected in to the inlet track you will find they are very close to the turbo or supercharger depending on what model you have.
when your engine is running and warmed up some of the oil mist is vented out of the breathers by the pressure in the engines crank case and also at higher rpm drawn out by the turbo or supercharger like a big hover.
the faster and harder you go the more oil you use basically.

this is where problems start ie filling your intercooler up with oil because thats whats in the system next. i have seen 1/4 lts come out an intercooler where the oil has settled over time and use.
also as the oil mist gets though to the inlet track it gets burnt on to the back of the intake valves this is where you carboning up problems come in.

you change your oil for a few reasons and the oil is not just for lubrication its for cooling and cleaning.
if you have the correct amount of oil in the system when you change it, when you remove the drain plug and oil starts to drain out, it is washing out all the carbon and debris in the bottom of the sump that why a lot of people use flushing agents to help this.
you are also replacing the filter to which will filter the oil if this becomes blocked you will end up with low oil pressure.
if you are down 1 lts of oil and your engine hold 5.5lts when you put that oil in you are diluting the 1 lts with 4.5 lts which means the new oil once mixed has done the same milage as the other 4.5 lts this will efect the cleaning and lubrication properties of the new 1 lts of oil

as a note with oil in your car if is starts to change ie gets darker it has carbon in it.
carbon is abrasive and causes you engine components to ware out over time
if you dont change your oil regular you will have carbon build up in your engine then the components will start to run hotter then more carbon less cooling more carbon less cooling BANG BIG BILL

my advise change your oil and filter regular you can flush every second time depending how bad your oil is, fit a oil catch thank which will help the oil loss problem.

yapped on enough now tried to keep it basic hope this helps

Great write up there mate, I change my oil and filter every 10k miles or every 12 months depending on which comes 1st on all my cars, oil is the life of a cars engine, look after the oil and the oil will look after the engine, So for the 20k oil service BMW MINI talk about, I do one and they do one, then the pattern goers on!

I will PM you my bank details. When my my engine is damaged, I'd like quick payment. Pounds Stirling please.

i'd be surprised if telling you how he looks after his car will damage your engine, if he offered some advice and you disagreed with it maybe you'd have a point, but he didn't so what are you talking about?

if you ask me how he looks after his is spot on, what are you even trying to suggest would cause engine damage? if you think you need to aim to constantly top your engine oil up to the max mark rather than anywhere above the min mark, you carry on, but don't be surprised if you find you are wasting oil due to a slight over fill

I will PM you my bank details. When my my engine is damaged, I'd like quick payment. Pounds Stirling please.

i am not telling you to stop checking the level of your oil, only that keeping it to the full mark may be causing the excess consumption

another example ... my 1997 gmc sonoma p/u truck, bought new 12/96, has 288,000 miles on it, it will use no oil between changes if i run the level just above the "add" line ... if i fill it to full, it will use a quart per 150-200 miles

running it just above the "add" line has obviously not hurt the engine, it is still running strong after 17 years and 288,000 miles

but in my opinion all things considered, if the engine is constantly using 1 litre of oil every 800 to 1000mls then this is unacceptable, and would merit investigation.

Iain

Hi ya

I feel your pain :-(
If you take you car to mini and say this to them, they will tell you 1 lts every 1000 miles is normal. If you insist it is not correct they will investigate if tou push hard enough and charge you lots for no fault.
If you go to an independent garage who noses nothing about minis you will have a huge bill and the same engine with loads of new bit with the same problem.

but if you want to reduce the oil consumption, like I said fit a catch tank or oil separator system this will solve lots of problems short term and long term if fitted properly. it's a known problem on the mini engines has been for years. It's the way the get the engine emissions, some cars are worse than others
.
It's a real pain but really the only way to do it if you think it may cost you £100 for a catch tank and you think och.
just think if you were using 1lts every 1000 miles and a litre of castrol edge 0w30 fst is between £14 an £18 it does not take long to add up and over the bmw specified service interval, the catch tank is going to pay for its self and you will have money left over don't need a accountant to work that one out.
Unfortunately that's the fun of these cars and the regulation.

What gets my goat is they phased out the good old two stroke motor bikes because they are not good for the environment. Well 1 lts of oil every 1000 miles your nearly in two stroke territory anyway that me finished yapping of to ride my stinky old two stroke :-)

Just as a note if you fit a catch tank and its still using a lot of oil it could be lots of things such as piston rings, valve stem oil seals, turbo labyrinth/magnetic seal, engine getting to hot due to bad cooling or oil system, bad head gasket and the list goes on

while waiting, i asked the service writer about oil level/when to add oil

he called the "senior mechanic" who joined the conversation

this is the "word" from my dealer service department

"any oil level between "add" and "full" is acceptable at all times, we do not recommend 'topping off' the oil, instead let the level fall to the 'add' mark and then add 1 quart"

i told him that my oil level drops rapidly to just above 1/2 and then stays there, his reply was

"that's great and exactly why we do not recommend 'topping up' before the oil level falls to the add mark"

so my original advice is backed up by my dealer, let your car find it's own level

scott

Just searched low oil and found this...

Just a question to save me tralling through lots of threads. Does an r56 mcs use/burn alot of oil? I just thought i would check mine as ive now had the car about 6 weeks, and nothing on the dipstick at all. So put 2 litres in and its now halfway. Whats the use in having an oil light or a min oil level if the warning light isnt going to come on. I shall check my oil again in about a week to see if its lost anymore. It definatly had oil in it when i bought the car, so would it really use atleast 2 litres in 6 weeks 3 thousand miles? seems alot to me, but it might be normal for this car, thought i would check with you guys first before i phone the dealer. By the way my car hs done 29,000 so its not high milege.

Looks like this car didn't know where it's own oil level should be....